Results from Motegi

Alright, so it's Monday afternoon and I have just gotten around to watching the Motegi race. I found myself in Hutchinson Island, GA yesterday racing the Moose, so I was unable to watch the MotoGP broadcast live during the wee hours of Sunday morning. Okay, that's a lie, I was not unable... nay, I was unwilling.... I needed my speed-sleep Saturday night, cause I sure as hell didn't get much Friday night. We won't go into my personal antics from Friday night, but I will let you nibble on this little nugget..... the parts that I DO remember were indeed entertaining (although, I would venture to guess that onlookers and neutral third parties may have been further entertained by the parts that I do NOT remember) Good times!!

I digress.... the race was worth the wait. I cheated Sunday morning on the trip up to GA and looked briefly at the results, so I knew what the podium order was, and I knew that several had crashed out. A little bit of a spoiler for myself, but not enough to strip the enjoyment from watching the race... I would never let me do that to me.

As I watched the race from start to finish, the only thing that ran through my mind was...... complete, total, unadulterated, brilliantly solid, ITALIAN DOMINATION. Ahhhhh Loris, what a vision you are on that big, booming Ducati. For the first half of the race, it was Loris, Marco Melandri and Valentino Rossi... in perfect form, tight succession, and stellar synchronization... the Italian tri-fecta of MotoGP racing. They ripped around the Twin Rings of Motegi with blinding speed. Loris never gave up his pole position. He held tight and fought off all advances from Melandri, who finally succumbed to Rossi's freakishly perfect riding ability and settled for a third place finish.

Sete Gibernau crossed the line in fourth place, which may or may not have happened had Shinya Nikano not crashed out on the last lap during an extremely valiant effort to pass Sete. I still don't know (after watching the crash replay an easy dozen times) how Shinya didn't take Sete with him when he went. A huge disappointment for Kawasaki after Randy de Puniet crashed out as well earlier in the race (I still love ya Randy!!!!). With Shinya's biff, came a bit of good luck for Nicky Hayden who struggled through the entire race to gain any ground he could and lengthen the gap between himself and Rossi in the championship points standings. Nicky ended up in fifth, but if not for Casey Stoner and Shinya Nikano exiting stage left at a high rate of speed, I am certain he would have landed in 7th at best. In the end, Hayden's lead was reduced to 12 points over Rossi..... a task well within reach of the superior force that is, The Doctor.

Casey rode one of his best races of the season.... right up until he crashed out. It was a righteous crash... he was attempting to overtake (insert name of top 10 MotoGP rider here) on one of the daunting hairpins of the Twin Rings, he went in a little hot and a little wide, grabbed the brake a little too hard and washed out. He slid clear and got up.. nothing hurt but his feelings. He had made his way into the top 5 and was slowly chipping away at the podium crew before he went skittering off the track.

All-in-all, another fantstic performance from the fastest men on two wheels. The fight for the championship will continue right down to the wire. There are only two races left in the 2006 MotoGP season, and each one of them will surely find me clinging to the edge of my seat, emitting Tourettes-like outbursts and emulating the spastic twitching of a stroke victim... for it is then, and only then that I know I am being 100% entertained :) :) :)

Until next time......

Rubb'er Down :)